


Dismantling bombs is easier than dealing with laundry

by Donuts



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: ADHD!Mac, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, Mac has ADHD, adhd feels, more likely I will end whichever fool dares challenge me, this headcanon is the hill I will die on, you cannot change my mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 09:57:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20289580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donuts/pseuds/Donuts
Summary: When Bozer calls Jack for help, he and Riley learn some new things about Mac.





	Dismantling bombs is easier than dealing with laundry

Jack was sitting watching TV when the call came. He considered letting it go to voicemail, but then he saw who it was. It was Bozer. He sighed and turned down the TV volume before picking up.

"Jack, I need you to get over here. Mac won’t get up."

Jack didn’t wait to hear more. He didn’t want to waste any time. "On my way," he replied, and hung up. He got into his car. 

* * *

He was definitely going quite a bit over the speed limit, but he didn’t get pulled over, so he didn’t care. If something was wrong with Mac, he needed to be there as soon as possible. Why did Bozer wait so long to call him? It was mid afternoon. He must have known something was wrong for hours. What had he been doing before he called Jack?

He hadn’t been paying enough attention to the road. He swerved and barely avoided colliding with another vehicle.

Why wouldn’t Mac wake up? What could be wrong with him? Hell, why was Bozer calling him and not a doctor?

By the time Jack pulled into the driveway, his knuckles were white and his shoulders were starting to cramp. He had to slam the brakes to stop. He ran up the door and flung it open, taking a few steps inside. There he found Riley and Bozer waiting on the couch, somewhat startled by his entrance.

Bozer recovered quickly. "You hung up on me pretty quick there, Jack. You didn’t let me explain."

"Mac isn’t dying." Riley added.

"But Bozer, didn’t you tell me he wouldn’t wake up?" Jack asked.

"No. I told you that he wouldn’t _get_ up. He’s awake. He probably heard you come in."

"I... don’t understand. What’s wrong?"

"Close the door and sit down."

Jack did as instructed, taking his first proper look around the room as he did so. It was a mess. There were a variety of LEGO structures, in various states of partial completion. Individual bricks were scattered across the floor, and it also looked like a bowl of paper clips had been spilled.

"His room is worse." Bozer said. 

"And he’s in there?" Jack asked. 

"Won’t leave it." Bozer replied. He hesitated for a moment. "I'm not sure what the best way to explain this is. Mac is... sensitive about this. He’s going to be annoyed at me for bringing you here."

"But whatever this is, is serious enough that you called me anyways."

"It’s gotten out of hand." Bozer paused. "What I think, and what I’ve thought for a while, is that he has ADHD. But he won’t listen about it, even though he’s a textbook case."

"The paper clips?" Riley asked.

"The paper clips are just one example." Bozer replied. "He’d should have been diagnosed when we were in school, but they thought he was too smart to be struggling."

Jack shifted in his seat. "Now Bozer, I don’t know very much about this kind of thing, but I don’t get it. I don’t understand what the hyperactive disorder has to do with Mac not getting up."

"Yeah, it’s... it’s more complicated than that. For Mac, all his energy, all his focus, comes from having a challenge. He needs something difficult to work at, or be under pressure, to be at his best."

Jack nodded slowly. "So when there’s a long gap between missions-"

"-He starts burning out." Bozer replied. "He tries, he tries real hard, to keep going like normal. But eventually he can’t. He reached that point yesterday afternoon."

They sat in silence for a while, unsure how to proceed.

"Perhaps we could find something fun to do out of the house?" Jack suggested.

"What, though? What can there be that will get him up?" Bozer asked.

"Doesn’t have to get him up. I think I have another idea for that."

Riley and Bozer exchanged concerned looks.

"Yeah, okay yeah you do that, just don’t knock my house down."

Jack knocked on Mac's bedroom door. There was no reply.

"Hey, Mac? You alive in there?"

"...hnnngghh." Mac replied.

"Glad to hear it. I’m gonna come in." Jack gently pushed the door open. 

Well, at least that was his plan. Whatever was on the other side wasn’t making it easy. He ended applying more force than he’d expected to get it open.

"Gmph mwph." Mac said. He was lying face down on his bed, clearly wearing yesterday’s outfit.

"Mac, you are getting up and getting a shower and we are going out."

Mac twisted his neck to look at Jack, squinting into the light. "Go where.... and why?"

"Haven’t decided yet, aaaaaand because I said so. Now get up, or I’ll start the timer."

Mac made something resembling a human facial expression. "The... timer?"

"I’m sorry it had to come to this." Jack took out his phone and set a five minute timer. He turned the screen to face Mac. "When this goes off, you had better be in the shower."

Mac gave him a blank stare.

"Think of it as a bomb. But you defuse the bomb by taking a shower."

"Jack... that's so... stupid."

"You leave me no choice." Jack said, and then started the timer.

There was a solid 30 seconds where Jack was afraid that this was not going to work. But then, to his relief, Mac scowled at the timer and pushed himself upright. Jack failed to contain a triumphant grin.

"Oh shut up." Mac grumbled, snatching up a fresh change of clothes. He stumbled out of the room, leaving Jack with his timer. 

Jack waited to hear the water running before he paused the timer and went back out to Bozer and Riley. They gave him curious looks when they saw him. 

"Now how the hell did you-" Bozer began, then saw the timer. "-oh, now that’s just _mean_."

"But effective." Jack grinned. "So, thought of a place to take him yet?"

"We are in agreement-" Riley began.

"-I didn’t realize we had agreed on anything." Bozer interjected.

"We are not in disagreement," Riley continued, "on the idea of taking Mac to an escape room. There are a few in the area."

"Fantastic idea. We are now in agreement." Jack said. "Which one?"

"Why not all of them?"

**Author's Note:**

> Mac: *muffled voice* go away  
Jack: *can't understand him, wouldn’t listen if he could* no you


End file.
